Just for general wonderings…
Managed a few gigs throughout the year…
February
Beans on Toast
March
Tom Odell
April
Black Water County
May
Grace Petrie
July
Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott with The Proclaimers and The Lathums
Cambridge Folk Festival including Billy Bragg, Beans on Toast and Suzanne Vega.
October
Frank Turner
Ricky Ross
November
Marcus Mumford
December
The Longest Johns
Paul Heaton with Billy Bragg
Managed to read 29 books this year:
A couple of standouts, both of which I was slightly late to the party for:
It’s been a great year on the reading front – definitely going for 30 books in 2023.
The complete list:
Plus the extra one:
‘Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance’ by Alex Hutchinson
Interesting book.
This book explores various physical and psychological limits that scientists have explored to discover the extremes of human endurance. You could probably therefore guess it is quite sciencey in places!
The book is divided into various chapters that explore different researchers ideas: pain, muscle, oxygen, heat, thirst and fuel. It also tries to explain some of the big theories in the endurance event world, from the ‘human machine’ to the brain being the ‘central governor’.
This book isn’t a training manual, it just explores what the human limits are. Interestingly, after 273 pages of science, it comes back to this famous physiologist, Michael Joyner, back in 1991 when he was asked what a runner needs to do to break the 2-hour marathon:
Run a lot of miles.
Some faster than your race pace.
Rest once in a while.
If you are in anyway interesting in what it takes to run faster, it is well worth a read.
‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ by Gail Honeyman
Late to the party with this one.
Absolutely loved it – definitely one of my favourite reads of the year. Great plot and fantastic characters.
If you’ve not read this yet – then read it!
‘OneTrackMinds’ by Kristian Brodie and Adam Shakinovsky
What was the song that changed your life?
In this book is a collection of 25 answers to the question.
Songs that have inspired people and saved people.
Read their answer to the question and then pop in your headphones, close your eyes and embrace the possibility of the life-changing power of music.
‘Reds & Rams’ by David Marples
Now, this is not a book I would normally read, and to be completely transparent, I know the author. Dave, a lovely fella, despite the fact he supports Nottingham Forest. When I say he supports Forest, he really does support Forest.
So, the book. I liked it. Unexpectedly so. Over the years I’ve had my fill of Brian Clough and the European Cup. This book is different: it’s about the rivalry between two teams. In fact, it could be any two teams.
Of course it’s full of Forest versus Derby stats and facts, but also societal, political and cultural references that have made this rivalry very interesting to read about. I never really realised the amount, of players and managers that went to and fro between the clubs.
Also, when you squeeze 150 years of history into 426 pages it makes you understand what a ridiculous merry-go-around of managers and owners these football clubs experienced.
Having said all that, it is a book about rivalry, every team has their rivals.
Regardless of class, race, gender, sexuality or any other identity marker, willing your team to win and the other to lose transcends everything. If your team can’t win, then the next best thing is for the other lot to lose.
David Marples, ‘Reds & Rams’
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